and president clinton gave the defeated bob dole a presidential medal of freedom just days before the second clinton inauguration. other rivals weren't as conciliatory. herbert hoover and franklin d. roosevelt reportedly sat in silence to the inauguration. walter mondale told politico he and ronald reagan never sat down for this kind of conversation. and is a former aide to john kerry told politico that kerry and george w. bush never spoke to one another after john kerry conceded the election. joining me now, pulitzer prize winning columnist for "the washington post" and msnbc analyst eugene erickson. and we have all -- i won't speak for you. i have -- i have more than once, i think, said we will keep in touch, let's keep in touch, to someone i did not then keep in touch with. i don't think i've ever been as phony about it, though, as these two guys today promising to stay in touch with each other after lunch. >> yeah. it was probably -- i've heard some people say the most awkward conversation mitt romney has had since his last conversation. you know, for what it's worth, like, i don'